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Namco Bandai Announces Ace Combat Assault Horizon

Developer promising a visceral experience in latest update to the franchise.

Fifteen years ago, Namco Bandai's action flight sim, Ace Combat, took off. Today the publisher announced it is taking the franchise back to the hanger in an effort to create an even more intense dog-fighting experience in Ace Combat Assault Horizon.

Developer Project Aces says it's taking a game already known for its fast pace and pushing it to breakneck speeds. Pilots that can't hack it will see their aircraft torn apart as an enhanced level of detail is added to the fighter jets and global environments they'll do battle in.

"For us, this is a rebirth of our premiere franchise, Ace Combat," said Producer and Executive Director Kazutoki Kono. "It's a chance for us to take the player in a completely new direction."

"I'm confident that we're creating a new type of intense and visceral action shooting experience with Ace Combat Horizon," Kono continued. "We're utilizing all of our collective vision and skills to deliver a phenomenal game. Players will be closer than ever to the combat, experiencing the impact of each shot fired."

While Namco Bandai and Project Aces plan to make some big changes with the game, they provided few actual details on what those changes will be, opting to let the game's debut trailer do the talking:

Ace Combat Assault Horizon is being developed for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and is set for release some time in 2011.

Sharkey says: We had a great time with Ace Combat 6, particularly when playing with the Ace Edge joystick and throttle. I appreciate that Namco and Project Aces want to push the game to a new level, but it's a bit worrisome given that the core gameplay was already terrific. Here's to hoping they don't go too arcadey with Assault Horizon. Trailer looks great, though.